FFXIV OC Fanfiction 17: Among Thieves
by blacklegheat
Summary: After Leo left the company he began his travel to Othard in pursuit of Alvin, although a stranger he met along the way may change his fate.


Leo awoke in a dimly lit room, the flickering of a few torches along what he assumed to be walls was all that was illuminating the area with no source of natural light in sight. He felt as though his head was going to explode, and as his eyes focused to the lighting of the room he soon realized why. He was upside down, his entire body bound in cloth and ropes, save for his head. He wriggled about and struggled to break free but to know avail. He was trapped securely with seemingly no escape.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. At least I think it's morning, hard to tell in here." A familiar voice came from beside him. It belonged to Miles Scarlet, a bandit he had the pleasure of "meeting" upon his arrival in Gyr Abania. It had been many months since Leo had left the Dragons' Scales to pursue Alvin who had beckoned him into following the Miqo'te all the way to the Far Eastern lands of Othard. Although due to the Garlean occupation of the eastern lands, Leo found no success in finding a ship willing to take him there. Left with few options, he began to travel by foot, making his way to Gyr Abania across the mountains between the regions of the Black Shroud and Xelphatol. Over a month had passed since the beginning of his venture as Leo set up camp in a secluded valley. Sitting by the fire after finishing his self-cooked meal, Leo pulled out a small kunai from his belongings and stared at it deeply. The edge of the blade was blunt, as if it had struck something completely solid so it was safe for him to touch as he ran his fingers across it before putting it away and pulling out another item. It was a small golden trinket with a bright blue gem embedded in it, on the back were the initials L. H. and J. B. He stared into it deeply, the gem gleaming in the light cast by the campfire. Leo lowered his gaze to the ring on his left hand before he sighed lightly and placed his belongings away. It had only been a short time yet he was already beginning to miss his family. He had no idea if the others were safe or what happened to the members back at the Dragon's Scales building after the attack. All he could do for now was track Alvin down and deliver the justice Leo thought he deserved. As the night grew longer, Leo settled down to rest, the calming sound and heat of the campfire slowly crackling helping to lull him to sleep until he felt a sudden presence behind him.

"Don't move." said a smooth voice from behind him. "You don't want this weapon of mine to penetrate you, do you?" The stranger grinned as he walked around to Leo's front, aiming his bow at the scowling Hyur's neck. "Or maybe you do." The stranger chuckled slightly.

"What do you want, I don't have anything valuable on me if that's what you're after." Leo explained bluntly. He observed the man to be a lean, tanned Hyur with silver hair and bright yellow eyes with a scar running across one of them. He wore a black, ragged vest with dark pants and knee-high boots with red tattered sashes running across his waist and wrapped around his biceps.

"Oh really? Then what was that sparkly object I saw you gazing at earlier?" The enemy replied.

"You've been watching this whole time?" Leo asked.

"Of course, the best hunters always observe their prey and wait for the opportune moment to strike. And now I finally get to sink my teeth into you. Now, hand it over and I'll let you walk away with your life." He offered. Leo hesitated for a moment before reaching for his trinket. With sudden reflexes he pulled out the kunai he had with him before and threw it towards the enemy, distracting him long enough to leap up and grab his lance.

"Nice trick, I guess you're not going to give in easily after all. Well that's fine by me, the chase is always more fun to me anyway. I'm getting that jewel one way or another." The thief said as he prepared an arrow and fired it towards Leo in one swift motion. The dragoon dodged out of the way, barely missing the projectile before jumping forward and swiping his lance sideways. The enemy dodged, jumping away with a backflip. As his body flung around he pulled three arrows from his quiver and loaded them onto his bow, pulling back and releasing them in mid air before landing on the ground. Leo hastened back with a mighty leap, barely avoiding the surprise attack. The two continued to attack each other and dodge each strike one after the other until they stood only feet apart from each other panting in exhaustion.

"Well you've certainly got a lot of strength and stamina, I didn't expect you to push back this hard, you're really wearing me out." The stranger remarked with his bow still drawn, ready to retaliate to any attack as he looked upon his battle-ready foe. "You know I've changed my mind, you can keep that little gem after all." He said.

"And I'm to believe you're going to let me just walk away?" Leo asked.

"Actually I want you to join me. I have some... Unique objects I need to gather for certain individuals and you seem like someone who'd be able to help out and watch my rear really well. You'd be compensated for your help of course." The stranger offered.

"I'm not a thief and I'm not interested in joining someone like you. Besides I have my own tasks I need to accomplish." Leo answered.

"There must be something you desire. I'm a very persuasive person, I could get you almost anything. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." The stranger bargained. Leo paused and took a moment to consider his options. Everything inside him told him not to trust this man but he was stranded in unknown territory surrounded by the enemy. If this was his opportunity to gain some aid then he had to take it.

"I want passage to Othard. Secure this for me and I will help you with whatever it is you require." Leo accepted as he lowered his weapon slightly.

"Now those are the sweet words I wanted to hear. You have my word that once we're done I will find a suitable ship for you to take you all the way east. The name's Miles, the pleasure is all mine." He ended with a bow as he withdrew his weapon. This night marked the beginning of a partnership as the two found themselves in all manner of conflicts over time, involving the empire and rogues and thieves the likes of Miles himself. Although one night as the two relaxed after procuring an item Miles was interested in from a group of bandits, Leo was suddenly contacted by Juria via Linkpearl.

"Are you serious about this Ju?" Leo asked in a stern yet surprised voice.

"I-I am Leo, it was all just an elaborate set up that Alvin created to train you in foreign techniques. Everyone here is safe, there's no reason for you to be out there anymore. Please Leo, please come back." A voice pleaded to him. There was a long pause of silence before the man finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry Ju but I can't, not yet. There are things I must do first. But make no mistake, when the time is ready I will return. Until then however I will remain out of contact with everyone."

"Leo, please..."

"I love you, Juria." He ended before returning back to Miles.

"Who was that, your sweetheart? Having second thoughts?" He asked.

"Yes... I'd like to renegotiate the terms of our partnership. I no longer desire a ship to Othard, instead I want that." Leo explained while pointing to the object that they had claimed earlier in the day. It was a lance with a long, sharp one sided blade, often referred to as a naginata in the Far East. It was beautifully crafted with gold trimmings and beautiful patterned silk running across the handle.

"This catch? This was going to earn us quite a lot of Gil, possibly more than your passage to the east itself. What do you expect to give in return?" Miles asked.

"I will continue fighting with you. My only goal now is to continue to train and better myself. Only when I believe I am truly capable of protecting those I care about can I bare to face them and return home. Until then my blade, that blade is yours." Leo explained as Miles looked at him with a devilish grin.

"Hah, I bet you just can't bare to be without me. Okay then we have a deal." Miles said as he lifted the weapon that was leaning against a large log next to him and handed it to Leo.

{•}

"Urgh my head, how did we end up in this mess?" Leo asked softly while observing the room they were in as best he could.

"Well, turns out that buyer I had in mind for that Magitek Core we snagged didn't intend on paying up and now we're just hanging out." Miles answered. "Good thing we made that stop to drop the kid off along the way, I doubt a petite thing like him would make it through this.

"You say that but I'm not even sure how we're gonna make it through this." Leo replied before a sudden faint noise in the distance caused him to quickly go quiet. He could just barely see a shadowy figure approaching him before it neared one of the torches, the light distinguishing him as a familiar face. "N'athys? what are you doing here, you're supposed to be at the house."

"Sorry but... I couldn't stand to be alone anymore. Besides without me who'd be here to save the two of you?" N'athys whispered.

"So you followed us all the way here? You sneaky devil." Miles grinned as N'athys began to cut open Leo's cocoon-like bindings before moving onto Miles'. The two landed with their hands, gently lowering the rest of their bodies quietly as Miles took the lead sneaking out of the room and through what looked like an abandoned mine that the bandits Miles was dealing with had made their hideout. Miles kept wandering about quietly treading past sleeping rogues as he lead the others around until they came across the object he sought.

"This is for paying customers only." Miles whispered to himself as he grabbed the Magitek Core and wrapped it up in one of the sashes around his belt before retrieving his nearby weapons along with Leo's lance.

"I took care of the guards on watch but we should be cautious not to wake the others up, let's get out of here as quickly as we can." N'athys urged.

"Hold on, I have an idea." Miles began.

"We don't have time for this." Leo whispered urgently.

"Shh shh shh, just wait. See here? Barrels upon barrels of gun powder. Seems like they were making explosives and planned to use the core for something truly menacing." Miles explained.

"And you were selling it to these people?" Leo asked.

"I didn't ask what they were gonna use it for, only how much they were offering for it. Anyway I say we let them experience their fine handiwork first hand." Miles schemed as he pulled out a knife and stabbed into one of the barrels creating a small hole before lifting the barrel up onto his back and walking away with it, leaving a thing trail behind the group. N'athys led them out of the cave a few minutes afterwards and Miles set the barrel down and placing one of this arrows on the ground against the trail of gunpowder. "Leo, if you please."

"Understood." He replied as he readied his lance and slashed at the arrowhead, the sparks it created igniting the gunpowder and sending a flaming trail racing into the cave. After a short moment a sudden chain of explosions ran out through the night sky along with shocked and terrified screams of the bandits as fiery bodies began to flee from the mines and put themselves out just as the entrance was beginning to cave in and collapse on itself.

"Well that was beautiful. I say it's time we take our leave though, what say you gentlemen?" Miles asked, his two companions nodding as they began to flee from sight. as they knew full well many more adventures like this were in store for them.


End file.
